MJSA Guide to the Kimberley Process
The Kimberley Process (KP) is a closed trading system to prevent the sale of conflict diamonds. Enacted in 2002, the KP was a response to brutal civil wars in African countries such as Sierra Leone and Angola, in which the sale of diamonds often financed the rebels and sometimes caused the conflicts themselves.
The KP has come under some strain since then, most notably after its response to governmental actions in Zimbabwe. In a bid to control the diamond fields there, the government attacked diggers working in the Marange fields. Additional human rights abuses have been reported, including the use of forced labor. In 2010, after a KP monitor visited Marange and filed a repor stating that the diamonds mined there were conflict free, KP-participating countries agreed—after much debate—to allow some exports from the region, subject to continued monitoring and further changes in how the government operates. But some industry critics have expressed skepticism about the decision and suggested the trade stop supporting the KP, as well as the System of Warranties that disseminates Kimberley non-conflict assurances throughout the supply chain.
Nevertheless, most industry leaders who have been involved in the KP since the beginning state unequivocally that members of the trade should still comply with it. For one thing, the KP’s provisions are incorporated into international law, as well as U.S. law. In addition, though the system isn’t perfect, it’s still the best assurance the trade has that most diamonds (over 99 percent) have not been sold to fund conflicts.
The MJSA Guide to the Kimberley Process & System of Warranties provides the steps you can take to ensure compliance.
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